PN1501

On May 9, 1945, the war in Europe was over. Adolf Hitler was dead, and the Third Reich had collapsed. In a requisitioned German military barracks outside Munich, a formal surrender ceremony was about to take place. It would become one of the most explosive confrontations of the entire occupation. Fifty-three high-ranking Wehrmacht officers stood … Read more

In 1841, a small group of land surveyors working for the Republic of Texas moved through territory near what is today Fredericksburg, Texas. They had been sent roughly 95 miles west of Austin to survey and legally mark land grants and territorial claims. The job sounded routine. It was not. At that time, this was … Read more

In November 1831, Jim Bowie and his older brother Rezin P. Bowie set out from San Antonio with about ten other men in search of the supposed silver mine near the San Saba River. The expedition would end in one of the fiercest Indian fights recorded in Texas history. The party included David Buchanan, Robert … Read more

Tom O'Folliard is not as famous as Billy the Kid, but he may have been just as dangerous. He rode hard, fought harder, and stood at the Kid's side during some of the bloodiest moments of the Lincoln County War. With a reputation for loyalty, recklessness, and a quick trigger, O'Folliard earned his place in … Read more

Thomas O'Folliard was born in 1858 to Irish immigrant parents. When he was a boy, both of his parents died of smallpox, and he was raised by relatives in Uvalde, Texas. He began his life of crime by taking part in horse theft with Emil Fritz. Fritz later became a gunman in the Lincoln County … Read more

On January 30, 1933, Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany by President Paul von Hindenburg. The Nazi regime quickly began restricting the civil and human rights of Jews and opened its first concentration camp, Dachau, near Munich. Between 1933 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its European allies established more than 44,000 camps and other … Read more

When the smoke cleared after the gunfight at the O.K. Corral, the real battle had just begun. Not with bullets, but with words. On November 16, 1881, during the hearing into the events in Tombstone, testimony was taken from Wyatt Earp and John H. Holliday. The prosecution had already presented its main evidence. The two … Read more

On April 4, 1945, the Allied armies were racing across Germany. The weather was warm and the trees were blooming, and it felt like spring. But as the jeeps of the US Fourth Armored Division drove down a quiet country road near the town of Gotha, they hit a wall. It was not a wall … Read more

After the Second World War, a series of trials were held to bring the perpetrators of wartime crimes to justice. The most high-profile took place in Nuremberg, where remaining members of Hitler's inner circle faced judges and some received death sentences. But other war crimes trials focused on specific camps. Among them were the Belsen … Read more